đź“™ My road to writing a government approved VPAT report (part 1/2)
This 2-part writing describes steps you can take, resources to use, and even tools I built to launch an in-house accessibility program and produce a Voluntary Product Assessment Template (VPAT).
Here in part 1 (of 2), you’ll find 5 steps I took to launch an accessibility program and a few resources you can use to dive deeper on the topic. Please skip ahead to part 2 if you are more interested in the accessibility documentation process and steps for filling out a VPAT.
First, some basics;
What is a VPAT?
The VPAT is a mechanism for enforcing compliance with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act (29 U.S.C. § 794 d). Section 508 requires that federal agencies ensure all tech tools that they “develop, procure, maintain or use” meet accessibility standards. The VPAT is a standardized document for measuring and presenting your product’s accessibility levels.
3 Reasons a VPAT is Important
- It is a requirement for any product if the federal government is your client.
- It lets clients know that your organization is serious about product quality.
- Tracking your product’s limitations is the first step to improving.
Discovering areas for improvement can be a catalyst of great change.
How I got involved
In 2019 as the newest UX designer to join an enterprise software startup, I caught wind the team was having trouble producing a “satisfactory” VPAT report. We needed it in order to land a major government client. Having studied universal design in grad school I knew of the often overlooked power of inclusive design and was excited to dive-in on this report.
At the outset I didn’t realize how much work the final report would require but I knew I would be learning something new, and that we had roughly 3 months to deliver. Ultimately the VPAT I produced was approved by the federal government and helped to un-block a new major client.
Step 1 — Get buy in
Once I signed up to work on the VPAT, I tied accessibility to my quarterly goals. Throughout the broader effort, it was extremely helpful that my manager was immediately supportive. Identifying an accessibility champion in the executive suite can go a long way.
Step 2 — Consult expert resources
Google I/O Panels
I highly recommend consulting the keynotes on accessibility from Google I/O 2018 and 2019. This 2018 Google I/O talk on accessible design opened my eyes to the concept of situational disabilities which everyone deals with, even when they don’t realize it.
Official Section 508 training [free online]
Being completely new to section 508 and the legal roots of the a11y movement, the very first thing I latched onto was the free online Section 508 training. These courses offer the government’s advice on how to evaluate and run an accessibility program (including important terminology with great reference points).
Accessibility News
After completing the government courses, I contacted companies who offer VPAT and other accessibility services to learn about their processes, services, and costs. I found the time frames and costs for their services largely depend on the format of your product, the number of screens involved, and the type of reporting guidelines ultimately required.
A highlight of my informational interviews with accessibility companies was speaking with the very knowledgeable Jack McElaney, the VP of marketing and sales at MicroAssist. I highly recommend his weekly newsletter,“Accessibility in the news,” for a round-up of the latest happenings in accessibility around the US and the globe.
Step 3 — Draft your own accessibility playbook
While you could outsource your VPAT, I decided to use the elaborate notes I took from the official 508 training. These training sessions are 100% free, flexible, online, and don’t take nearly as long as you might think. They outline exactly what to consider in an accessibility program for any team. The training provides a great accessibility playbook framework to mirror/tweak.
Step 4 — Spread the word
Once you have your playbook, but before you fill out your first VPAT, you’ll want to spread the word so everyone sees the benefits and what’s needed.
Speaking to engineering:
Supported by our VP of engineering, I presented the key pieces of our new accessibility playbook to our 40+ person engineering team. I recommend a short deck composed of roughly:
- 50% accessibility history and awareness*
- 50% accessibility goals and opportunities (for current products)
Speaking to upper management:
I spent an afternoon looking up completed VPAT examples for similar online products. I found Oracle and Salesforce VPATs to be great inspiration and very useful for describing the scope of this project to upper management.
Speaking to the whole team:
As a result of my ongoing investigation, I was fortunate to find an Accessibility design event hosted at Google by the South Bay UX Meetup group. (Check out these slides from the talk.) This presentation is a nice demonstration of how to advocate for accessible design in a large group.
By this point in my research, I also began to recognize a good amount of product accessibility design information that I was already familiar with.
Fun fact: The term “a11y” is synonymous with accessibility and is derived from the 11 characters between “a” and “y.”
After building up the confidence to add to the conversation, I wrote a very short a11y article here on Medium and began advocating more seriously around the office. After all, I’m a designer, and accessibility is a basic tenant of good design.
Step 5 — The program kick-off!
I gave an all-hands presentation of our bare-bones accessibility policy at a company all-hands meeting. This was largely an opportunity introduce myself as the in-house accessibility expert and go-to employee for questions. Starting out small and humble, the cornerstone of our introductory accessibility policy is simply to know who (me) the Accessibility Program Manager is, and how to contact me about accessibility.
This talk was also a key opportunity to reinforce the importance of a11y for all of our users. I walked through steps for escalation and shared examples of how an accessibility inquiry could escalate into a meaningful product change.
Key point:
At the end of the day, advocacy and selling the value of accessibility to your entire team is still as important as identifying the accessibility problems.
The steps above provide a bare-bones approach to get your organization started with an accessibility program. As your program evolves, you can add elements for a more mature model, like an accessibility champions program.
Continue to part 2 for my VPAT steps:
I hope this is helpful and thanks for any feedback you provide :)
